Reunion (Black Sabbath album)

Reunion
Live album by Black Sabbath
Released	20 October 1998
Recorded	Birmingham NEC, 4–5 December 1997 A&M Studios, Hollywood, California, April–May 1998 (studio tracks)
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	107:36
Label	Epic
Producer	Thom Panunzio (live tracks), Bob Marlette (studio tracks)
Black Sabbath live albums chronology
Cross Purposes Live (1995) Reunion (1998) Past Lives (2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	(B+)[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

Reunion is a live album by heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It features the original line-up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, the first recording of the four musicians together after the firing of Osbourne in 1979. They had a couple of one-off reunions in 1985 and 1992, but never toured or recorded together.

This line-up played sporadic dates until Ronnie James Dio replaced Osbourne a second time, reforming the Heaven and Hell roster to tour following the release of the compilation album Black Sabbath: The Dio Years (2007).

This 2-CD live album was put together from the first two shows after the reunion, at the Birmingham NEC. Along with live versions of tracks such as "Paranoid", "N.I.B.", "Black Sabbath" and "Iron Man", it also features two new studio tracks – "Selling My Soul" and "Psycho Man". The two new tracks on Reunion were also released on a single CD in the USA.

Black Sabbath received their first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, for the live recording of "Iron Man" from this album^[4] in 2000. They went on to win the same award 13 years later, with the song "God Is Dead?".

Track listing

All songs written by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, except where noted.

Disc one

1. "War Pigs" – 8:28
2. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" – 4:07
3. "N.I.B." – 6:45
4. "Fairies Wear Boots" – 6:19
5. "Electric Funeral" – 5:02
6. "Sweet Leaf" – 5:07
7. "Spiral Architect" – 5:40
8. "Into the Void" – 6:32
9. "Snowblind" – 6:08

Disc two

1. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" – 4:36
2. "Orchid/Lord of This World" – 7:07
3. "Dirty Women" – 6:29
4. "Black Sabbath" – 7:29
5. "Iron Man" – 8:21
6. "Children of the Grave" – 6:30
7. "Paranoid" – 4:28
8. "Psycho Man" (Osbourne, Iommi) – 5:18
9. "Selling My Soul" (Osbourne, Iommi) – 3:10

Personnel

Band members

• Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
• Tony Iommi – guitar
• Geezer Butler – bass
• Bill Ward – drums*

* In the credits for the two studio recordings, Bill Ward is only credited for drums on "Psycho Man." "Selling My Soul" features a drum machine.^[5]

Additional Personal

• Geoff Nicholls – keyboards, guitar

Production

• Thom Panunzio – producer, engineer
• Bob Marlette – producer and engineer of studio tracks, mixing at Rockfield Studios and A&M Studios
• Greg Hackett, Barry Clempson – engineers
• Phil Ault, John Aguto, Phil Hopkins – assistant engineers
• Andrew Garver – digital editing
• David Collins – mastering
• Glen Wexler – cover design and photography

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1998	The Billboard 200	11[6]
	Top Canadian Albums	5[6]

Singles – Billboard (North America)^[7]

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1998	"Psycho Man"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	3
1999	"Selling My Soul"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	17

Sales Accomplishments

RIAA certification[8] (United States) Date Designation Total Sales 4 January 1999 Gold 500,000 Platinum 1,000,000

CRIA certification[9] (Canada) Date Designation Total Sales 26 February 1999 Gold 50,000 26 September 1999 Platinum 100,000

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Black Sabbath Reunion review". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
2. Farber, Jim (27 November 1998). "Black Sabbath Reunion review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
3. "Black Sabbath: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
4. "Reunion Grammy Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
5. "Black Sabbath Online: Reunion". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
6. "Reunion Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
7. "Reunion Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
8. "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". Retrieved 22 February 2009.
9. "CRIA certified awards". Retrieved 8 February 2009.